About Vincent Morrone

At 40 years old, I'm just starting to realize my dreams of being a writer. Follow http://vincentmorrone.com/ for information on my debut novel, VISION OF SHADOWS, a paranormal/young adult coming soon from http://www.writers-exchange.com/home.php

Welcome to the first night of the live shows! Tonight it’s team Christina vs. Team Blake! Carson Daly introduces the show and the judges and somehow manages not to mention the fact that Cee Lo Green has hair (either a wig or something small and hairy died on his head), and is wearing something like a cross between the wardrobes of Liberace and the Rhinestone cowboy, but in all red. Alrighty then.

Spoke too soon. Carson finally says something. Cee Lo blames the mop on his head over the fact that Adam Levine cut his locks. Adam points to Cee Lo and says, “That is my hair.” (Yeah? In what world?) Either way, Cee Lo just loves the attention. Ok, on with the show people. The show with music.

Jermaine Paul: Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.

The song starts with two people beating drums up somewhere high as Jermaine rises out of a staircase. He makes his way to the stage, singing his heart out. It’s pretty amazing. The arrangement is a more elaborate version of the original, but there’s no mistaking Jermaine’s voice for Jon Bon Jovi.

Christina Aguilera: Was impressed with how Jermaine worked the stage. She didn’t get the connection to the song, but she liked the way he milked each note with himself.

Blake Shelton: Doesn’t care what Christina says, he thinks Jermaine going to be on the top of the ITunes charts.

Me: I thought it was really good. It’s a crowd pleasing song that he delivered, and while I never imagined Jermaine picking it, I think it fit him perfectly!

Chris Mann: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkle.

Chris starts off standing near a piano, his rich voice going through the song like I’ve never heard it before. His mom is in the audience. His classical side is showing, in a good way, with plenty of money notes. He ends and Christina gets to her feet.

Cee Lo: (Seems to have problems saying anything without everyone around him cracking up, especially Christina.) He says he came here to be hypercritical of everyone, since no one is on his team, but there’s nothing wrong he can say about Chris.

Adam: (First, another Cee Lo comment.) He used a song that was unpredictable for Chris, and it’s one of Adam’s favorite songs, but he did great.

Christina: “It was so beautiful: Song’s been done so many times, but you really owned it.”

(I can’t help but wonder how they’re picking which judges to let comment.)

Me: Bridge Over Troubled Water is an amazing song that can be extraordinarily boring to listen to from the wrong singer. Chris Mann was definitely not the wrong singer. I really liked it, and I could feel the emotion. But I’m not sure how the younger viewers may react to that song choice. Still, he’s probably safe.

Rae Lynn:Wake Up Call by Maroon 5.

(Don’t think we didn’t see what you did there, Blake!)

Rae Lynn starts the countrified version of this song. I like the arrangement, but there are a few places where her voice just isn’t quite doing it right. There are some where she’s killing it. Adam seems to love it. Rae Lynn’s working the stage and crowd well, but I think she needed a bit more work on the song. However, it does work as a country song.

Christina: “You’re a sassy little thing.” She was impressed and liked it, but mentions the obvious bromance between Blake and Adam.

Adam: “You broke my heart twice – when you didn’t pick me and when you did my song so well.”

Blake: “You’re representing the new sound of country music so well.” He also mentions that Nashville is already talking about her.

Me: I think it could have been better, but it was pretty good and she’ll have the country vote.

Moses Stone: Stronger by Kanye West.

Moses hits the stage flanked by dancers. He both sings and sort of raps his way through. The crowd goes nuts . I’m not sure there were any money notes, but he sounded great.

Cee Lo: “Kanye West was a nice choice.”

Adam: “You know how to entertain people” He also thinks Moses has more potential as a singer than a rapper.

Blake: “I can already hear an improvement in your vocals.”

Christina: She talks how most of the singers in Moses’ genre are all auto-tune, and thinks he brings everyone to the table.

Me: I think it was really well done, but like Blake said, this is a singing competition. He needs to do more of the singing. But I still liked it.

Naia Kete:Turning Tables by Adele.

Acoustic Guitar in hand, Naia starts the song without the reggae flavor she wanted to put in it, per Blake’s instructions. We see an ensemble behind her. I think she’s hitting all the right notes. She sounds like herself, not Adele.

Christina: “It was cool.” She would have preferred a more reggae choice.

Blake: She needed to prove she could do more than the reggae and compliments her tender moments.

Me: I’m not a big reggae fan, so I’m siding with Blake here. I think if you are someone who likes that flavor of music, you might have preferred it in that style. Naia did well for herself, but she’s probably not safe. It would be a shame if she went home based on this performance, because she’ll always wonder if she had done it more reggae, would it have worked better.

Lindsey Pavao: Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye.

Lindsey starts the song sitting between ladies in those white face masks. They start dancing as the song builds. As Christina said in rehearsal, she’s using her breathy voice during the verses and then getting more powerful with the chorus. It sounds very unique.

Adam: He was freaked out by the people in the mask. He was missing the power that should have been in the chorus.

Christina: Loved how Lindsey brought her own unique style. “You can stand in a category all on your own.”

Me: I thought it was really good, but not great. The verses worked better than the chorus. Lindsey clearly has an ear for rearranging a song to make it hers and it showed on her, but she needs to pull off the hooks better. A little lackluster. She may not be safe.